Dr Sarah Dawes

Dr Sarah Dawes is a Forensic Psychologist who qualified in 2014. She is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), Chartered with the British Psychological Society (BPS) and she holds a European standards certification in psychology as well.

Sarah specialises in forensic mental health and has substantial experience working with both men and women involved with the criminal justice system, secure psychiatric hospitals, custodial settings, community services and those awaiting to attend court or family court.

Difficulties experienced by those she has worked with have often been complex by nature and included diagnoses of mental illness, personality disorder and learning disabilities. Presentation has often been complicated by co-occurring problems with substance use, self-harm, trauma and / or serious offence related behaviours (such as violence, arson, stalking and sexual offending). Despite the nature of work Sarah has often been able to develop a positive therapeutic rapport to establish a shared understanding of difficulties experienced and to support a collaborative process.

Sarah currently works as an independent practitioner and is able to carry out formal psychological assessments and assessments of risk. By gaining a more in-depth understanding of presenting difficulties it can be of value to provide information for clinical questions raised, inform treatment planning and aid decision making. She is accustomed to writing psychological reports detailing the outcome of assessments and assessment process ensuring the quality is to a high standard. She is also experienced in multi-agency working ensuring efficient communication with appropriate/relevant professionals involved in a person’s care and management. Due to the nature of the work she has undertaken this provides a platform to competently apply knowledge and skills across settings.

Areas of Specialism:

• Assessment of risk of future violent offending (including arson)
• Assessment of risk of future sexual offending
• Risk assessment where a sexual offender denies their offence
• Risk assessment of non-contact internet sexual offending.
• Assessment of anger traits and anger management skills
• Assessment of risk of future stalking behaviour
• Assessment of risk of future cyberviolence
• Assessment of self-harm and suicidal ideation
• Assessment of trauma and the likely impact of trauma.
• Assessment of mental health and functional link to risk
• Personality assessment
• Assessment of cognitive functioning/intellectual impairment
• Substance misuse related reports (e.g.necessity for further psychological treatment)
• Screening assessments for neurodevelopment difficulties including ADHD and autism

Profession: Psychologist

Courts or Tribunals: Criminal and Offending, Family Court, Immigration and Asylum, Mental Health Tribunals, Personal Injury

Age groups: Adult

Psychological Specialisms: Adult Mental Health Problems, Forensic, Learning Difficulties, Personality Disorder, Sexual Offending, Substance Misuse, Trauma and PTSD

Therapies offered: